I have a 2000 chevy blazer 4x4 with original shocks. My car is going on 93,000 miles without replacing the shocks and I believe I need new shocks. I will describe what my car is doing and you tell me what you think is wrong. When I drive down the highway at about 55 mph and I hit a dip in the road my blazer goes all over the road and feels very uneasy. My front end sways back and forth and side to side. My backend bounces up and down. When I am parked and I push down on the front left and right fenders, my car does a whole shimmy and bounces uncontrolable. It just doesnt feel right, but it did pass inspection last month, do they check shocks for inspection?? Feels like my car bottoms out or is just riding on the springs and leaf springs. Its that bad. I have no idea what to do. Should I get new shocks?? If you have had similar problems what did you do to resolve the issue?? thanks.

 

I have the very same problem on my 2001 Jimmy. My Bilstein's will be here on Monday. I hope my stab in the dark is right. I'm going to keep an eye on this subject to see what other people think as well.

 

I hope its the shocks and nothing else too serious. I just got new tires and dont wanna wear them out with bad shocks putting too much pressure on the new tires. thanks.

 

You might want to check your front and rear sway bars and bushings. Alot of times the bushings can wear out and act like your sway bars are disconnected. Shocks were a good move to start with...unfortunately alot of people neglect their shocks with high mileage. Also make sure you don't have bad ball joints up front..but it's more likely a sway bar/shock issue I would guess.

 

Should I take my blazer to my mechanic and tell him to check the sway bars and bushings?? because I took it to my mechanic about 3 weeks ago and he said my shocks were just fine. I am leaning toward sway bars and bushings now. Any way I can do an inspection on the sway bars and bushings?? thanks.

 

I would definitely recommend replacing your shocks. You can inspect your sway bar links/mounts yourself as well as replace them with a simple tool set and maybe a hack saw. You'll need some bigger wrenches for the shocks if you decide to tackle them. But they aren't too difficult.

 

Theyre pretty easy to check on your own I think. If you're not in the frigid north of Canada anyway



This is a pic I had for something else, but it'll work. The big column of spacers and what not underneath the red box I made in paint is the sway bar end link and bushing assembly. This is looking from the the front of the truck to the back, and the passenger front wheel is on the left of the pic. The green box is the lower ball joint on the passengers side.

Mine is completely stock, and at 100k miles. The blue-ish looking thing on the sway bar end link is the main bushing, and should look pretty stout. If it's worn or dry-rotted at all, you have a problem.

 

thanks for the pics. I will check my bushing tomorrow and give you guys an update on the results of the inspection of the shocks, sway bars and bushings. thanks.

 

I just replaced my shocks with the $18 monroe's. when I pulled the old ones out they still had a lot of pressure to them, but the new ones (even though they are the cheap ones) make for a more steady ride (less of a wave action when I hit a bump). No more than they cost, I would personally start with replacing the shocks (@ 93k miles they should be replaced for prevention/safety sake), and double checking the swaybar as mentioned before.

 

Also check upper and lower control arms for bad bushings and lose nuts.......I had that problem once.